The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
KROGER'S CLOSURES
Kroger and Albertson's are moving closer to merging with news that they'll be selling 400 stores and a number of brands to C&S Wholesale Grocers, with several hundred more shops on the table down the line. This deal is worth about $1.9 billion and Kroger will be buying Albertson for $20 billion plus debt. Meanwhile, Kroger also announced in its latest earnings report that it'll take a $1.4 billion charge as part of an opioid settlement. Initially stocks dropped, but quickly rebounded to end Friday up 3 percent and wrap up the week in the black.
APPLE VS. CHINA
Apple stock dropped this week after reports that China banned government officials from using iPhones and phones from foreign brands. China did not confirm the reports, but investors were spooked since the country is a major market for Apple. The company's stock was down 6 percent this week, although fortunes could change in just a few days; Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 15 on Tuesday.
ROKU LAYOFFS
Roku shares are going up, but that isn't enough for about 360 people to keep their jobs. The streaming giant announced it will be cutting about 10 percent of its workforce to try and end a series of quarterly losses. The company began landing in the red after plenty of success during the Covid-era. Investors haven't seemed too concerned this year - the stock has doubled since the beginning of the year.
QANTAS CEO DEPARTS
The head of Qantas Airways announced he will be bumping up his retirement date after a series of damaging revelations about the company came to light. After 22 years with the company - 15 of them at the helm - Chief Executive Alan Joyce stepped down on Tuesday, two months earlier than planned. Among the issues making headlines recently was that the airline sold tickets on more than 8,000 flights after they had already been canceled, and failed to tell passengers in a timely manner that they would have to buy new tickets. We all know that the closer you get to your travel date, the more you have to pay, so customers were clearly outraged. The stock dropped 4 percent on the news Tuesday.
WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY CUTS OUTLOOK
The ongoing Hollywood actors and writers strikes are having an impact. This week Warner Bros. Discovery cut its outlook for the rest of the year and announced it could be on the hook for half a billion dollars because of the walkouts. The media giant owns a lot of household names in the entertainment industry, like HBO, TNT, and DC Comics, so the losses are great. The stock closed the week dow more than 11 percent.
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A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
